US20180219845A1 - Control method - Google Patents
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- US20180219845A1 US20180219845A1 US15/880,423 US201815880423A US2018219845A1 US 20180219845 A1 US20180219845 A1 US 20180219845A1 US 201815880423 A US201815880423 A US 201815880423A US 2018219845 A1 US2018219845 A1 US 2018219845A1
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
- G06F21/30—Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
- G06F21/31—User authentication
- G06F21/34—User authentication involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
- G06F21/35—User authentication involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards communicating wirelessly
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
- H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
- H04N1/00281—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal
- H04N1/00315—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal with a radio transmission apparatus
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
- H04M1/72—Mobile telephones; Cordless telephones, i.e. devices for establishing wireless links to base stations without route selection
- H04M1/724—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
- H04M1/72403—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
- H04M1/72409—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality by interfacing with external accessories
- H04M1/72412—User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality by interfacing with external accessories using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
- H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
- G06F21/30—Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
- G06F21/44—Program or device authentication
- G06F21/445—Program or device authentication by mutual authentication, e.g. between devices or programs
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
- G06F21/30—Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
- G06F21/45—Structures or tools for the administration of authentication
- G06F21/46—Structures or tools for the administration of authentication by designing passwords or checking the strength of passwords
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1278—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to adopt a particular infrastructure
- G06F3/1279—Controller construction, e.g. aspects of the interface hardware
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1278—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to adopt a particular infrastructure
- G06F3/1292—Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L9/00—Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols
- H04L9/32—Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
- H04L9/3226—Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials using a predetermined code, e.g. password, passphrase or PIN
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
- H04W12/06—Authentication
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
- H04W4/80—Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/048—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
- G06F3/0484—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
- G06F3/04842—Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2250/00—Details of telephonic subscriber devices
- H04M2250/04—Details of telephonic subscriber devices including near field communication means, e.g. RFID
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a control method.
- An information processing apparatus which may communicate with a communication apparatus such as a printer by using a predetermined application (hereinafter, called an “app”) such as a printing app.
- an information processing apparatus may execute pairing processing for performing authentication between the communication apparatus and the apparatus for highly secured communication.
- Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2017-10329 discloses an information processing apparatus which performs pairing processing with a communication apparatus by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
- Pairing processing may be performed before communication by a predetermined app, as described above. Accordingly, in order to perform pairing processing before communication by a predetermined app, the information processing apparatus may first receive an instruction to execute pairing processing on a screen displayed by the predetermined app. However, a user may sometimes execute input processing for the pairing processing on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app rather than a screen displayed by a program of the predetermined app. In other words, though the instruction to execute pairing processing is received on a screen displayed by the predetermined app, the input processing for executing the pairing processing may sometimes be executed on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app. Disadvantageously with this configuration, for input processing during pairing processing for communication by a predetermined app, a user may not easily determine an operation to be performed on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app.
- the present invention may improve user operability in a configuration that an instruction to execute the pairing processing is given on a screen displayed by a predetermined app but an input operation for pairing processing is performed on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app.
- the information processing apparatus has a first program and a second program different from the first program, and a first wireless communication unit configured to execute communication by a first wireless communication method and a second wireless communication unit configured to execute communication by a second wireless communication method having a higher communication speed than that of the first wireless communication method.
- the control method includes receiving, from a user through a screen displayed on a display unit by using the first program, an execution instruction to execute authentication processing for authenticating communication by the first wireless communication unit between a communication apparatus and the information processing apparatus, in a case where the execution instruction is received, displaying on the display unit by using the second program a setting screen for receiving from a user an input for selecting a target communication apparatus for the authentication processing from a plurality of communication apparatuses, and displaying on the display unit a notification region for notifying a user of information regarding an operation to be executed on the setting screen displayed on the display unit.
- FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates configurations of an information processing apparatus and a communication apparatus.
- FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts illustrating pairing processing to be executed by an information processing apparatus.
- FIG. 3 illustrates an example screen to be displayed on a display unit in the information processing apparatus upon activation of an app for printing.
- FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate example BT setting screens to be displayed by an app for setting.
- FIG. 5 is an example PIN code display screen to displayed on a display unit in a communication apparatus.
- FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate example BT setting screens to be displayed by the app for setting and example Toasts to be displayed by the app for printing.
- FIG. 7 illustrates an example screen illustrating operating steps to be performed by a user on a BT setting screen and a name of a communication apparatus to be selected on the BT setting screen.
- FIG. 8 illustrates processing for broadcasting advertise information and receiving connection request information.
- FIG. 9 illustrates advertise by BLE.
- FIG. 10 illustrates a structure of advertise information.
- the information processing apparatus may be any of various apparatuses such as a mobile terminal, a desktop personal computer (PC), a tablet terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a digital camera.
- a printer is applied as an example of the communication apparatus according to this embodiment, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.
- the communication may be any of various devices which can perform wireless communication with the information processing apparatus. For example, any printer is applicable such as an ink-jet printer, a full-color laser beam printer, and a monochromatic printer.
- Embodiments of the present invention are also applicable to not only such printers but also a copy machine, a facsimile apparatus, a mobile terminal, a smartphone, a laptop PC, a tablet terminal, a PDA, a digital camera, an audio player, a television and so on. Additionally, embodiments of the present invention are also applicable to a multi-function peripheral having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a facsimile function and a printing function.
- FIG. 1 a block diagram illustrated in FIG. 1 .
- This embodiment is applicable to any apparatuses which can communicate with a communication apparatus, and it is not intended to be particularly limited by the illustrated capabilities though the following configurations will be described below according to this embodiment, for example.
- An information processing apparatus 101 corresponds to the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment.
- the information processing apparatus 101 may have an input interface 102 , a CPU 103 , a ROM 104 , a RAM 105 , an external storage device 106 , an output interface 107 , a display unit 108 , a communication unit 111 , and a near-field communication unit 112 .
- the input interface 102 is an interface configured to receive a data input or an operation instruction from a user by operating a mouse 110 or a keyboard 109 .
- the CPU 103 is a system control unit and is configured to generally control the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the ROM 104 is configured to store fixed data of a control program, a data table, an embedded operating system (hereinafter, called an OS) program to be executed by the CPU 103 , for example.
- control programs stored in the ROM 104 are configured to implement software execution control over scheduling, task switching, interrupt processing and so on under management of the embedded OS stored in the ROM 104 .
- the RAM 105 may be a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) which may require backup power supply. Because the RAM 105 may hold data with power from a primary battery for data backup, not illustrated, the RAM 105 may store important data such as program control variables without volatizing them.
- the RAM 105 may further has a memory area configured to store, for example, setting information for the information processing apparatus 101 and management data for the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the RAM 105 may be used as a main memory and a work memory for the CPU 103 .
- the external storage device 106 is configured to store an application providing a print execution function and a print job generation program which generates a print job interpretable by the communication apparatus 151 .
- the external storage device 106 is further configured to store a program such as an information transmission/reception control program which may perform transmission/reception to/from the communication apparatus 151 connected thereto through the communication unit 111 and information to be used by the programs.
- the output interface 107 is an interface configured to control for display of data on the display unit 108 and notification of a state of the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the display unit 108 may be a light emitting diode (LED) or a liquid crystal display device (LCD), for example, and is configured to display data and notify a state of the information processing apparatus 101 .
- Operating elements such as a numeral input key, a mode setting key, a determination key, a cancel key, and a power key may be provided on the display unit 108 to receive an input from a user through the display unit 108 .
- the communication unit 111 is connected to the communication apparatus 151 , an external apparatus to the information processing apparatus 101 , and an apparatus at an external access point (not illustrated) present externally to the communication apparatus 151 and is configured to execute data communication with them.
- the communication unit 111 is connectable to an access point (not illustrated) within the communication apparatus 151 . Connection between the communication unit 111 and an access point within the communication apparatus 151 enables mutual communication between the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus 151 .
- the communication unit 111 may communicate with the communication apparatus 151 directly by wireless communication or through an external apparatus present externally to the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus 151 .
- the term “external apparatus” here refers to an external access point or a non-access point apparatus which can relay communication.
- a wireless communication method such as Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) (registered trademark) and a Bluetooth (registered trademark) may be used.
- the external access point may be an apparatus such as a wireless LAN router.
- the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus 151 may be directly connected without through an external access point in a direct connection method.
- the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus 151 may be connected through an external access point in an infrastructure connection method.
- the near-field communication unit 112 is configured to execute data communication in near-field connection with an apparatus such as the communication apparatus 151 and to communicate with the communication unit 111 based on a different communication method.
- the near-field communication unit 112 is connectable with the near-field communication unit 157 within the communication apparatus 151 , for example.
- a communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and WiFi Aware may be applied therefor.
- This embodiment assumes that the near-field communication unit 112 has a Bluetooth function which enables execution of communication based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Classic.
- the communication unit 111 is configured to be able to perform communication at a higher speed than that of the near-field communication unit 112 . It is assumed here that a communicable distance of the communication unit 111 is longer than a communicable distance of the near-field communication unit 112 .
- the communication apparatus 151 corresponds to the communication apparatus of this embodiment.
- the communication apparatus 151 may have a ROM 152 , a RAM 153 , a CPU 154 , a print engine 155 , a communication unit 156 , and a near-field communication unit 157 .
- the communication unit 156 has an access point for connecting with an apparatus such as the information processing apparatus 101 as an internal access point in the communication apparatus 151 .
- the access point is connectable with the communication unit 111 in the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the communication unit 156 may communicate with the information processing apparatus 101 directly by wireless communication or through an external access point.
- a communication method such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and a Bluetooth (registered trademark) may be used.
- the communication unit 156 may include hardware functioning as an access point or may operate as an access point by software for causing the communication unit 156 to function as an access point.
- the near-field communication unit 157 is configured to execute near-field connection with an apparatus such as the information processing apparatus 101 and to be able to connect with the near-field communication unit 112 within the information processing apparatus 101 , for example.
- a communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and WiFi Aware may be applied therefor.
- This embodiment assumes that the near-field communication unit 157 has a Bluetooth function which enables execution of communication based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Classic.
- the communication unit 156 is configured to be able to perform communication at a higher speed than that of the near-field communication unit 157 . It is assumed here that a communicable distance of the communication unit 156 is longer than a communicable distance of the near-field communication unit 157 .
- the RAM 153 may be an SRAM which may require backup power supply. Because the RAM 153 may hold data with power from a primary battery for data backup, not illustrated, the RAM 153 may store important data such as program control variables without volatizing them.
- the RAM 153 may further have a memory area configured to store, for example, setting information for the communication apparatus 151 and management data for the communication apparatus 151 .
- the RAM 153 may be used as a main memory and a work memory for the CPU 154 and may store information such as information in a reception buffer for temporarily storing print information received from the information processing apparatus 101 , for example.
- the ROM 152 is configured to store fixed data of a control program, a data table, and an OS program to be executed by the CPU 154 , for example.
- control programs stored in the ROM 152 are configured to implement software execution control over scheduling, task switching, interrupt processing and so on under management of the embedded OS stored in the ROM 152 .
- the CPU 154 is a system control unit and is configured to generally control the communication apparatus 151 .
- the print engine 155 is configured to perform image formation processing and output a print result.
- the image formation processing applies a recording material such as ink onto a recording medium such as paper based on information stored in the RAM 153 or a print job received from the information processing apparatus 101 , for example, to form an image on the recording medium.
- the term “print job” here refers to a job for causing the communication apparatus 151 to perform the image formation processing.
- the print job is received through the communication unit 156 capable of communicating at a higher speed than that of the near-field communication unit 157 .
- a memory device such as an external hard disk drive (HDD) and an SD card may optionally be provided in the communication apparatus 151 , and information to be stored in the communication apparatus 151 may be stored in the memory device.
- HDD hard disk drive
- SD card Secure Digital Card
- the communication apparatus has a connection mode set by connection setting processing and communicates with the information processing apparatus based on the connection configuration based on the set connection mode.
- the connection mode is set to an infrastructure connection mode.
- the connection mode is set to a direct connection mode.
- the near-field communication unit 112 and the near-field communication unit 157 perform communication by BLE.
- the near-field communication unit 157 functions as an advertiser (or slave) which broadcasts advertise information, which will be described below, and the near-field communication unit 112 functions as a scanner (or master) which receives the advertise information.
- This embodiment further assumes that the communication unit 111 and the communication unit 156 perform communication over a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi).
- Wi-Fi wireless LAN
- the near-field communication unit 157 divides a frequency band of 2.4 GHz into 40 channels (0 to 39 ch) for communication based on the BLE communication method.
- the near-field communication unit 157 uses 37th to 39th channels among them for transmission of advertise information and reception of BLE connection requests and 0th to 36th channels for data communication (such as GATT communication) after a BLE connection.
- FIG. 8 illustrates a vertical axis indicating power consumption by the near-field communication unit 157 and a horizontal axis indicating time period and illustrates a power consumption for transmitting advertise information by using one channel for each process.
- a transmission power 802 indicates an instantaneous power consumption by a transmission process.
- a reception power 803 indicates an instantaneous power consumption by a reception process.
- a microcomputer operating power 801 indicates an instantaneous power consumption when a microcomputer within the near-field communication unit 157 operates. The microcomputer operates before and after and during Tx 805 and Rx 806 because the microcomputer is required to be activated in advance for executing and terminating transmission and reception processes.
- the near-field communication unit 157 may use a predetermined channel to perform a transmission process and then use the same channel to perform a reception process for a predetermined period of time so that the near-field communication unit 157 can wait for a BLE connection request transmitted from the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the near-field communication unit 157 receives a BLE connection request from the information processing apparatus 101 , the near-field communication unit 157 establishes a BLE connection and thus perform GATT communication with the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the near-field communication unit 157 may repeat the advertise information transmission and reception processes three times by using different channels as illustrated in FIG. 9 , terminate the operation of the microcomputer, and may then be shifted to have a power saving mode for a predetermined period of time.
- a combination of advertise information transmission and reception processes by using a predetermined channel will be called an advertise.
- a time interval for transmitting advertise information by using a predetermined channel will be called an advertising cycle.
- the number of advertises to be repeated during a period from the first advertise to the shift to the power saving mode may arbitrarily be changed if it is equal to or lower than three.
- FIG. 10 illustrates an example structure of advertise information to be broadcasted from the near-field communication unit 157 to neighborhood of the communication apparatus 151 .
- the near-field communication unit 157 may perform initialization processing upon start of power supply and shift to have an advertising state.
- the near-field communication unit 157 having the advertising state periodically broadcasts advertise information to the neighborhood based on an advertising cycle.
- the term “advertise information” refers to a signal including basic header information (such as identification information for identifying a destination apparatus of the advertise information) and having a header 1001 and a payload 1002 .
- the information processing apparatus 101 receiving the advertise information can identify the presence of the communication apparatus 151 .
- the information processing apparatus 101 may transmit a BLE connection request to the communication apparatus 151 to execute BLE connection with the communication apparatus 151 .
- the header 1001 is a region for storing the type of advertise information and information regarding the size of the payload 1002 .
- the payload 1002 may store a device name 1003 or mounted profile information as the identification information, connection information 1004 for BLE connection with the communication apparatus 151 , and information regarding transmission power (Tx Power) 1005 for advertise information.
- the advertise information may include identification information 1006 of a communication apparatus.
- the identification information 1006 of a communication apparatus corresponds to a MAC address of the communication apparatus, service information of the communication apparatus, an SSID of or a password for an access point within the communication apparatus.
- the near-field communication unit 157 shifts to an advertising state when the power supply to the communication apparatus 151 is turned on and starts transmission of advertise information.
- the time for starting transmission of advertise information by the near-field communication unit 157 is not limited thereto but may be a time when a predetermined operation is performed for enabling a BLE function, for example.
- the near-field communication unit 157 may first transmit first advertise information and, when receiving a response to the first advertise information from the information processing apparatus 101 , may transmit second advertise information containing different data from that of the first advertise information.
- the first advertise information may include information regarding transmission power for advertise information and identification information of the near-field communication unit 157 .
- the second advertise information may include identification information of the communication apparatus 151 and information regarding a function and hardware included in the communication apparatus 151 .
- an app for printing hereinafter, a printing app
- a printing app may be designed to handle the second advertise information. Therefore, the following description assumes that advertise information to be handled by the printing app is the second advertise information.
- pairing processing is performed which performs an authentication process between the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus 151 for reading and writing data by GATT (Generic Attribute Profile) communication between the apparatuses.
- GATT is a profile for reading and writing (transmission and reception) of information under BLE standards.
- the information processing apparatus 101 may function as a GATT client
- the communication apparatus 151 may function as a GATT server.
- a GATT-based profile enables reading and writing information from the information processing apparatus 101 to the communication apparatus 151 in the communication. It is configured that, when the pairing between the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus 151 is not executed, the communication apparatus 151 does not allow reading and writing of information by GATT communication.
- This embodiment assumes that there are GATT communication to be permitted between unpaired apparatuses and GATT communication not to be permitted between unpaired apparatuses. It may be configured to allow communication of less confidential information by the GATT communication to be permitted between unpaired apparatus for improved convenience of communication. On the other hand, it may be configured to allow communication of highly confidential information by the GATT communication not to be permitted between unpaired apparatuses for improved security of communication.
- the predetermined application may be an application program, for example, for transmission to the communication apparatus 151 of a print job for printing image data or document data within the information processing apparatus 101 .
- an application having such a function will be called a printing app.
- the printing app may include other functions in addition to the print function.
- the printing app may include a function for scanning a document set on the communication apparatus 151 , a function for defining a setting for the communication apparatus 151 , and a function for checking the state of the communication apparatus 151 .
- the printing app may have a function for transmitting a scan job or a setting job in addition to the print job to the communication apparatus 151 .
- the predetermined application is not limited to the printing app but may be an application program having a function other than printing.
- the information processing apparatus 101 may sometimes communicate with the communication apparatus 151 by BLE, for example, in order to use a function of the printing app. More specifically, for example, in order to execute the print function, the information processing apparatus 101 may first exchange, by BLE communication, connection information regarding WiFi communication and then transmit a print job to the communication apparatus 151 by WiFi communication. Accordingly, in order to use a function of the printing app, the information processing apparatus 101 may execute pairing processing for BLE to be able to execute BLE communication with the communication apparatus 151 . This embodiment assumes that the printing app also has a function for performing pairing processing between the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus 151 . The pairing processing to executed through the printing app will be described below.
- FIG. 3 illustrates an example screen to be displayed on the display unit 108 when the printing app is activated.
- a user may use a function of the communication apparatus such as printing of a desired image and defining a setting for the communication apparatus.
- the information processing apparatus 101 detects a press of a “PRINT PHOTOGRAPH” button 301 , the information processing apparatus 101 causes the communication apparatus 151 to display a screen for executing printing.
- the information processing apparatus 101 detects a press of a “SCAN” button 302
- the information processing apparatus 101 causes the communication apparatus 151 to display a screen for executing scan processing which is processing for scanning a document to generate image data.
- the information processing apparatus 101 detects a press of a BLE PARING button 303 , the information processing apparatus 101 starts pairing processing.
- the information processing apparatus 101 has an application for setting (hereinafter, a setting app).
- the setting app is an application program for defining a setting relating to a function to be executed by the OS.
- the setting app may be installed during a series of processing operations for installing the OS in the information processing apparatus 101 or may be installed in the information processing apparatus 101 in advance together with the OS upon arrival of the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the information processing apparatus 101 receives from a user an input for the pairing on a Bluetooth setting screen (hereinafter, BT setting screen) displayed by the setting app. More specifically, the information processing apparatus 101 receives from a user an input for pairing on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app.
- BT setting screen Bluetooth setting screen
- pairing processing may not be executed on a screen displayed by a program other than the setting app, that is, the printing app because of, for example, some types of OS installed in the information processing apparatus 101 or some models of the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the information processing apparatus 101 also uses the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app for performing pairing processing through the printing app.
- a configuration will be described which performs pairing processing on both of a screen displayed by the printing app and a screen displayed by a program (setting app, here) other than the printing app according to this embodiment for improved usability.
- FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts illustrating pairing processing to be executed by the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B may be implemented by a program stored in the ROM 104 or the external storage device 106 and invoked to the RAM 105 and executed by the CPU 103 , for example.
- the processing illustrated in the flowcharts in FIGS. 2A and 2B is assumed to be executed by the printing app.
- the printing app is configured to be able to receive a notification that an event such as “in pairing”, “pairing completed”, and “pairing failed” has occurred through a BT setting screen displayed by the setting app.
- the CPU 103 determines whether a Bluetooth function of the information processing apparatus 101 is enabled or not. With the enabled Bluetooth function, the information processing apparatus 101 is ready for execution of communication by Bluetooth or BLE. As described above, the near-field communication unit 112 operates as a scanner under the BLE communication standard. Thus, when the information processing apparatus 101 is ready for execution of communication by BLE, the CPU 103 shifts the near-field communication unit 112 to a state ready for receiving advertise information (scan state) and searches advertise information. If the CPU 103 determines that the Bluetooth function is enabled, the processing moves to S 203 . If the CPU 103 determines that the Bluetooth function is not enabled (or is disabled), the processing moves to S 202 .
- the CPU 103 enables the disabled Bluetooth function.
- the CPU 103 displays on the display unit 108 a dialog for prompting a user to select whether the Bluetooth function is to be enabled or not. If the CPU 103 receives an instruction from the user through the dialog, the Bluetooth function may be enabled.
- the CPU 103 determines whether the near-field communication unit 112 has received advertise information after the BLE PARING button 303 is pressed. If the CPU 103 determines that advertise information has been received, the processing moves to S 204 . If the CPU 103 determines that the advertise information has not been received, the CPU 103 after a predetermined waiting time performs the processing S 203 again for waiting for reception of the advertise information.
- the CPU 103 determines whether the received advertise information includes specific identification information or not.
- the information processing apparatus 101 in order to perform pairing processing through the printing app, is configured to communicate with a communication apparatus of the model or vendor supporting the printing app. Therefore, the specific identification information is identification information indicating that the communication apparatus having transmitted the received advertise information is a communication apparatus of the model supporting the printing app or a communication apparatus provided by a predetermined vendor supporting the printing app. More specifically, the specific identification information may be information indicating that the communication apparatus having transmitted the received advertise information can provide a print service (image formation function) or information regarding the name of model or vendor of the communication apparatus having transmitted the received advertise information.
- the identification information may be any information by which a communication apparatus supporting the printing app can be uniquely identified and may be an IP address, a MAC address, or an ID information, for example. If the CPU 103 determines that the received advertise information includes the specific identification information, the processing moves to S 205 . If the CPU 103 determines that the received advertise information does not include the specific identification information, the CPU 103 after a predetermined waiting time performs the processing S 203 again for waiting for reception of the advertise information. In a case where the near-field communication unit 112 receives a plurality of advertise information pieces after a press of the BLE PARING button 303 is detected, the CPU 103 performs the determination in S 204 with respect to each of the advertise information pieces. If the CPU 103 determines that at least one of the advertise information pieces includes the specific identification information, the processing moves to S 205 .
- the CPU 103 displays on the display unit 108 information regarding the communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information including the specific identification information.
- the information regarding the communication apparatus may be included in the advertise information including the specific identification information and may be information such as a name, an IP address, or a MAC address, for example, of the communication apparatus.
- the CPU 103 displays information regarding the communication apparatuses having transmitted the advertise information pieces.
- the information regarding the communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information including the specific identification information may be displayed on a screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing.
- the printing app displays a screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing. Because of the filtering performed in S 204 , the information regarding the communication apparatus which supports the printing app (or on which the printing app can execute a function) is displayed, and information regarding a communication apparatus which does not support the printing app is not displayed.
- the CPU 103 determines whether a selection of a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing has been received from a user or not. More specifically, the CPU 103 determines whether any one of information pieces regarding communication apparatuses included in the screen displayed in S 205 has been selected or not. If the CPU 103 determines that the selection has been received from a user, the processing moves to S 207 . If the CPU 103 determines that no selection has been received from a user, the CPU 103 performs the processing in S 206 again and waits for a selection from a user.
- the processing in and after S 203 may be performed again with the screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing kept displayed on the display unit 108 .
- information regarding the transmission source of newly received advertise information can be added to the screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing.
- the CPU 103 determines that a selection has been received from a user, the CPU 103 determines that an instruction to execute the pairing processing has been received from a user, and determines the communication apparatus corresponding to the selected information as the pairing target communication apparatus. It is assumed here that the communication apparatus having a name “PrinterA” has been selected by a user, for the following descriptions.
- the CPU 103 stores the information regarding the pairing target communication apparatus in a predetermined storage region in the external storage device 106 or the ROM 104 , for example.
- the information regarding the pairing target communication apparatus may be advertise information transmitted by the pairing target communication apparatus, for example.
- the CPU 103 requests the pairing target communication apparatus to start GATT communication based on the information stored in S 207 .
- information which can be communicated without pairing can undergo GATT communication between the information processing apparatus 101 and the pairing target communication apparatus.
- the CPU 103 transmits by GATT communication the identification information regarding the information processing apparatus 101 to the pairing target communication apparatus.
- the CPU 103 transmits the identification information by GATT communication permitted without performing pairing. More specifically, the CPU 103 writes the identification information in a region writable without performing pairing in a GATT profile in the pairing target communication apparatus.
- the identification information regarding the information processing apparatus 101 may be information such as a name, an IP address, or a MAC address of the information processing apparatus 101 , for example. If the CPU 103 successfully transmits the identification information, the CPU 103 ends the GATT communication. The processing then moves to S 210 .
- the CPU 103 may repeat the transmission of the identification information until the identification information is transmitted successfully. Alternatively, until the successful transmission, a dialog, for example, may be displayed on the display unit 108 to receive an interrupt of processing, or a timeout may cause after a lapse of a predetermined time period to interrupt the processing.
- the pairing target communication apparatus may store it in a storage region in the pairing target communication apparatus.
- the pairing target communication apparatus may receive a pairing processing request only while the identification information is being stored in the storage region.
- the pairing target communication apparatus may receive a pairing processing request only from an information processing apparatus corresponding to the identification information stored in the storage region.
- the pairing target communication apparatus may be controlled to receive a pairing processing request only when the pairing processing is executed through the printing app.
- the pairing target communication apparatus may determine whether the pairing processing has completed or not and whether a predetermined time period has passed from the storing of the identification information or not. If one of the determinations results in YES, the identification information is deleted from the storage region.
- the processing to be executed by the pairing target communication apparatus for receiving a pairing processing request is not limited to the configuration as described above.
- the pairing target communication apparatus may be configured to receive identification information from the information processing apparatus 101 after receiving a pairing processing request from the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the pairing target communication apparatus determines whether the identification information received from the information processing apparatus 101 is matched with the information regarding the information processing apparatus 101 included in the pairing processing request or not. If they are matched, the pairing target communication apparatus accepts the pairing processing request and starts the pairing processing. If not, the pairing target communication apparatus does not accept the pairing processing request and does not start the pairing processing.
- the CPU 103 displays on the display unit 108 a screen displaying operation steps to be performed by a user in the pairing processing.
- operations for the pairing processing such as an input of information for pairing is performed on a BT setting screen of the setting app running on the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the CPU 103 may display on the display unit 108 dialogs illustrating operation steps to be performed by a user on the BT setting screen and a communication apparatus to be selected on the BT setting screen.
- the CPU 103 further displays a button for receiving an instruction to move to the next step from a user. More specifically, for example, the CPU 103 in S 210 may display a screen as illustrated in FIG. 7 .
- the CPU 103 closes the dialog displayed on the display unit 108 . The processing then moves to S 211 .
- the CPU 103 enables a notification setting for an event to the printing app. More specifically, the CPU 103 sets to enable the printing app to receive a notification of an event occurring in response to an operation performed on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app.
- the printing app can recognize occurrence of an event such as “in pairing”, “pairing completed”, or “pairing failed” based on an operation performed on the BT setting screen and can execute predefined processing in response to occurrence of the event.
- the CPU 103 displays a Toast showing a message prompting a user to select, on the BT setting screen displayed on the display unit 108 in S 211 , the communication apparatus selected by the user through the screen displayed in S 205 .
- the CPU 103 here displays a Toast showing a message prompting a user to select the communication apparatus having the name “PrinterA” on the BT setting screen.
- the Toast displayed here is kept being displayed in front of the BT setting screen even when the BT setting screen is displayed, which will be described below.
- the user can quickly and accurately grasp which communication apparatus is to be selected on the BT setting screen.
- Toast refers to a notification region to be pop-up displayed in the foreground on the display unit 108 in the information processing apparatus 101 .
- a Toast is automatically hidden after a lapse of a predetermined period of time.
- a Toast may be displayed on a partial region of a display unit though it is not limited in size to prevent it from completely covering a screen displayed by the printing app and the BT setting screen. Even while a Toast is being displayed, a region excluding the Toast may be operated to execute an operation on the screen displayed behind the Toast, minimizing interference with user operations.
- the CPU 103 transmits a request to display a Toast to the OS along with data of a message to be included in the Toast because the OS has a function for displaying a Toast.
- the CPU 103 can display the Toast by using the printing app.
- the CPU 103 can display a Toast even when a program requesting to display the Toast is moved to the background.
- a state that a program is moved to the background corresponds to a state that a screen displayed by a program other than the program is being displayed on the display unit 108 while the program is kept running.
- a state that a program is moved to the foreground corresponds to a state that a screen displayed by the program is being displayed on the display unit 108 while the program is kept running.
- the CPU 103 may display again the Toast automatically hidden after a lapse of a predetermined period. In this case, the CPU 103 may repeat the re-display a predetermined number of times or until the Toast is hidden by a user operation.
- the CPU 103 changes the screen to be displayed on the display unit 108 from a screen to be displayed by the printing app to a BT setting screen to be displayed by the setting app. Then, the CPU 103 moves the printing app to the background. More specifically, the CPU 103 displays the screen to be displayed by the setting app on the display unit 108 in response to an instruction from the printing app by keeping the printing app active.
- the configuration has been described up to this point which changes the screen to be displayed by the display unit 108 from the screen as illustrated in FIG. 7 to the BT setting screen.
- Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the configuration, but, for example, it may be configured that the screen as illustrated in FIG. 3 is changed from the screen as illustrated in FIG. 3 directly to the BT setting screen after receiving an instruction to execute the pairing processing.
- FIGS. 4A to 4C are examples of the BT setting screen to be displayed by the setting app.
- a setting for a Bluetooth function of the information processing apparatus 101 can be defined.
- the BT setting screen is a screen for receiving from a user a selection of a communication apparatus to be paired with the information processing apparatus 101 , for example.
- the CPU 103 displays a BT setting screen 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A on the display unit 108 .
- the BT setting screen displays a list of pairing-completed devices 410 , a list of devices available for pairing 420 , and a SCAN button 430 .
- the list of pairing-completed devices 410 is a region displaying information regarding a communication apparatus on which pairing processing with the information processing apparatus 101 has already been executed (or paired with the information processing apparatus 101 ).
- the list of devices available for pairing 420 is a region displaying information regarding a communication apparatus with which the information processing apparatus 101 can execute the pairing processing. It is noted here that the expression “a communication apparatus with which the information processing apparatus 101 ” refers to a communication apparatus having transmitted advertise information received by the information processing apparatus 101 . Filtering is not particularly performed on communication apparatuses displayed in the list of devices available for pairing 420 .
- the list of devices available for pairing 420 may also display a communication apparatus not supporting the printing app (such as a non-printer apparatus and a printer not supporting the printing app instructing the pairing processing). A user may select one of communication apparatuses displayed in the list of devices available for pairing 420 so that the pairing processing with the selected communication apparatus can be started.
- the SCAN button 430 is a button for causing the information processing apparatus 101 to starting searching (scanning) advertise information transmitted from a communication apparatus in a BLE-supported apparatus around the information processing apparatus 101 in order to update the data of the list of devices available for pairing 420 .
- a return button 440 is a button usable for displaying again the screen displayed on the display unit 108 immediately before the currently displayed screen.
- the BT setting screen 400 including the return button 440 is displayed by the setting app.
- the screen displayed by the program excluding the setting app is displayed again in response to a press of the return button 440 .
- the screen displayed immediately before the BT setting screen 400 is a screen displayed by the printing app
- the screen displayed by the printing app is displayed again in response to a press of the return button 440 .
- a home button 441 is a button usable for displaying a home screen to be displayed by the OS.
- the term “home screen” refers to a screen displaying icons for activating application programs (such as the printing app) included in the information processing apparatus 101 , for example.
- a task list button 442 is a button usable for displaying a screen for selecting a program to run in the foreground. Accordingly, when the printing app is selected on a screen displayed in response to a press of the task list button 442 , a screen presented by the printing app is displayed again.
- the CPU 103 in response to a press of the SCAN button 430 shifts the information processing apparatus 101 to a scanning state that is a state ready for receiving advertise information transmitted from a communication apparatus around the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the CPU 103 identifies a name (Complete Local Name) of the communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information included in the received advertise information.
- the CPU 103 then adds the identified name to the list of devices available for pairing 420 , displays it, and updates the display data of the list of devices available for pairing 420 .
- names of communication apparatuses displayed in the list of pairing-completed devices 410 and the list of devices available for pairing 420 are information included in the received advertise information.
- the advertise information may further include, in addition to names of communication apparatuses, identification information (Bluetooth device address: BD_ADDR) for identifying an individual near-field communication unit included in a communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information. Therefore, the identification information may be displayed in the list of pairing-completed devices 410 and the list of devices available for pairing 420 .
- the CPU 103 may store advertise information received from a communication apparatus displayed in the list of pairing-completed devices 410 or the list of devices available for pairing 420 in a storage region (such as the RAM 105 or the external storage device 106 ) in the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the BT setting screen is a screen to be displayed by the setting app, and filtering for displaying a communication apparatus suitable for the printing app is not performed for displaying a candidate for the pairing target communication apparatus.
- the list of devices available for pairing 420 may display information regarding communication apparatuses excluding the communication apparatus selected by a user through the screen displayed in S 205 or communication apparatuses not supporting the printing app because they do not have a print function, for example. This means that, disadvantageously, it is difficult for a user to determine which communication apparatus is to be selected as a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing through the printing app.
- the CPU 103 may display a Toast showing steps of user operations in front of the BT setting screen by the printing app. More specifically, for example, the CPU 103 may display a BT setting screen 600 illustrated in FIG. 6A displaying a Toast 601 in the foreground of the BT setting screen 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A .
- the Toast 601 displays a message prompting a user to select “PrinterA” that is the communication apparatus selected by the user on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 .
- This configuration can prevent misoperations and can improve user's convenience. It may be configured that the Toast displayed here may include information (name) of a communication apparatus supporting the printing app instead of the communication apparatus selected by a user on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 .
- the Toast may first be displayed in S 212 , and the BT setting screen is then displayed in S 213 .
- embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the configuration. In other words, after the BT setting screen is displayed, the Toast may be displayed.
- the CPU 103 determines whether the printing app on the background has been moved to the foreground or not. More specifically, the CPU 103 determines whether the screen displayed on the display unit 108 has been changed from the BT setting screen to a screen displayed by the printing app or not. Notably, for example, in a case where a screen displayed by the printing app is selected on the selection screen displayed in response to a press of the return button 440 or a press of the task list button 442 , the printing app is moved to the foreground. If the CPU 103 determines that the printing app has been moved to the foreground, the processing moves to S 223 . If the CPU 103 determines that the printing app has not been moved to the foreground, the processing moves to S 215 .
- the CPU 103 determines whether an event has been notified to the printing app through the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app or not. If the CPU 103 determines that the event has been notified, the following processing is performed based on the type of the notified event. More specifically, the CPU 103 determines that the notified event is “in pairing”, the processing moves to S 216 . If the CPU 103 determines that the notified event is “pairing completed”, the processing moves to S 218 . If the CPU 103 determines that the notified event is “pairing failed”, the processing moves to S 220 . On the other hand, if the CPU 103 determines that no event has been notified, the processing in S 214 is executed again.
- the event indicating “in pairing” is an event that occurs when execution of the pairing processing is instructed through the BT setting screen 600 . More specifically, the event indicating “in pairing” occurs when a user selects one of communication apparatuses displayed in the list of devices available for pairing 420 .
- the setting app reads out advertise information received from the communication apparatus selected by the user from a storage region and determines information such as identification information for the pairing processing from the read advertise information.
- the setting app transmits a pairing request based on the determined information and the BLE communication standards to the communication apparatus selected by the user.
- the communication apparatus having received the pairing request displays a PIN code display screen 500 as illustrated in FIG. 5 on a display unit (not illustrated) that the communication apparatus has.
- the PIN code display screen 500 displays a PIN code 501 that is authentication information to be used for pairing processing and a Cancel button 502 to be sued for cancelling pairing processing.
- the display unit 108 displays a PIN code input screen 450 illustrated in FIG. 4B .
- the PIN code input screen 450 is a screen displaying a PIN code input dialog 454 in front of the BT setting screen 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A .
- the PIN code input dialog 454 displays a PIN code input region 451 , an OK button 452 , and a Cancel button 453 .
- the PIN code input region 451 is a region for receiving a PIN code input by a user.
- the OK button 452 is a button for transmitting the input PIN code to the communication apparatus selected by the user.
- the Cancel button 453 is a button for cancelling pairing processing.
- a fixed period may be defined in which the PIN code 501 can be input to the PIN code input region 451 (or in which the input can be successfully performed), for example.
- the period in which the PIN code 501 can be input to the PIN code input region 451 may be equal to 30 seconds, for example. In this case, if input of the PIN code 501 and press of the OK button 452 are not performed within 30 seconds from the time when the PIN code input screen 450 is displayed, the PIN code 501 is not transmitted to the communication apparatus selected by the user. This means that the pairing processing fails.
- the setting app transmits information including the input PIN code 501 to the communication apparatus selected by the user.
- the communication apparatus selected by the user determines whether the PIN code 501 included in the received information is matched with the PIN code 501 (a PIN code corresponding to the communication apparatus) displayed on the PIN code display screen 500 or not. If the communication apparatus selected by the user determines that they are matched, the communication apparatus permits the information processing apparatus 101 to be paired. More specifically, the communication apparatus selected by the user transmits a link key generated by a predetermined method based on the PIN code 501 to the information processing apparatus 101 by using Security Manager Protocol (SMP) in the BLE standards.
- SMP Security Manager Protocol
- the link key is stored in a storage region (such as the ROM 104 ) in the information processing apparatus 101 and a storage region (such as the ROM 152 ) in the communication apparatus selected by the user.
- a storage region such as the ROM 104
- a storage region such as the ROM 152
- the pairing completes, and execution of BLE communication is permitted between the information processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus. If the pairing processing completes (successfully), an event indicating “pairing completed” occurs.
- the setting app displays the BT setting screen 460 illustrated in FIG. 4C which does not display the PIN code input dialog 454 .
- the communication apparatus represented by “PrinterA” and the information processing apparatus 101 are completely paired. Therefore, the setting app adds “PrinterA” to the list of pairing-completed devices 410 and deletes “PrinterA” from the list of devices available for pairing 420 .
- the pairing fails. Therefore, the communication apparatus selected by the user does not transmit the link key to the information processing apparatus 101 . In this case, the communication apparatus selected by the user transmits information indicating that the pairing has failed to the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the pairing processing may be executed again. Then, the setting app displays the BT setting screen 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A on the display unit 108 again. Pairing may fail without limiting to such a case where the PIN codes are not matched. For example, pairing fails if the Cancel button 453 is pressed on the PIN code input screen 450 in FIG.
- the pairing may fail if no input is performed for a long period of time on the PIN code input region 451 , for example. In this manner, if the pairing processing fails, the event indicating “pairing failed” occurs.
- the CPU 103 determines whether the communication apparatus selected on the BT setting screen 600 displayed by the setting app is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 or not.
- the notification of the event indicating “in pairing” includes identification information of the communication apparatus selected on the BT setting screen 600 displayed by the setting app. Therefore, more specifically, the CPU 103 may execute the determination processing by comparing the identification information included in the notification of the event indicating “in pairing” and the information stored in S 207 . If the CPU 103 determines that they are matched, the processing moves to S 217 . If not, the processing returns to S 214 .
- the CPU 103 may display a Toast displaying that the communication apparatus selected on the BT setting screen 600 is not matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S 205 .
- the CPU 103 may display a Toast for prompting a user to abort the pairing processing with the communication apparatus selected on the BT setting screen 600 , for example.
- the CPU 103 may display again the Toast indicating the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S 205 , for example.
- the setting app displays the PIN code input screen 450 illustrated in FIG. 4B on the display unit 108 , as described above.
- a fixed period may be defined in which the PIN code 501 can be input to the PIN code input region 451 (or in which the input can be successfully performed), for example.
- the CPU 103 in S 217 performs display control for displaying a Toast 603 including information regarding a period when the PIN code 501 can be successfully input in front of the PIN code input screen 450 .
- the display unit 108 displays a BT setting screen 602 illustrated in FIG. 6B .
- the Toast 603 may display a message for prompting to input the PIN code 501 within 30 seconds from display of the PIN code input screen 450 and the number of digits of the PIN code 501 to be input.
- a user may execute the corresponding operations based on things to be noted for inputting the PIN code 501 , which can improve the usability in inputting the PIN code 501 .
- the CPU 103 executes the processing in S 214 again after S 217 .
- the CPU 103 determines whether the communication apparatus having paired with the information processing apparatus 101 is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 or not.
- the notification of the event indicating “pairing completed” include identification information of the communication apparatus having paired with the information processing apparatus 101 . Therefore, more specifically, the CPU 103 may execute the determination processing by comparing the identification information included in the notification of the event indicating “in pairing” and the information stored in S 207 . If the CPU 103 determines that they are matched, the processing moves to S 219 . If not, the processing returns to S 214 . If the CPU 103 determines that they are not matched, the CPU 103 may display a Toast displaying that the communication apparatus having paired with the information processing apparatus 101 is not matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S 205 .
- the setting app displays the BT setting screen 460 illustrated in FIG. 4C on the display unit 108 .
- the pairing processing normally (or successfully) completes (that is, if the communication apparatus having paired with the information processing apparatus 101 is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S 205 )
- the screen to be displayed by the printing app may be displayed again.
- the return button 440 may be pressed to move the printing app to the foreground.
- the CPU 103 displays in front of the BT setting screen 460 a Toast 605 including a notification for moving the printing app to the foreground.
- the display unit 108 displays the BT setting screen 604 illustrated in FIG. 6C .
- the Toast 605 displays an operating method (for prompting to press the return button 440 ) for moving the printing app to the foreground.
- an operating method for prompting to press the return button 440
- the CPU 103 executes the processing in S 214 again after S 219 .
- the CPU 103 may display a Toast presenting information indicating that the pairing processing has normally (or successfully) completed.
- the CPU 103 determines whether the communication apparatus which has failed to be paired with the information processing apparatus 101 is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 or not.
- a notification of the event indicating “pairing failed” includes identification information of the communication apparatus failed to be paired with the information processing apparatus 101 . Therefore, more specifically, the CPU 103 performs the determination processing by comparing identification information included in the notification of the event indicating “pairing failed” and the information stored in S 207 . If the CPU 103 determines that they are matched, the processing moves to S 221 . If not, the processing returns to S 214 . If the CPU 103 determines that they are not matched, the CPU 103 may display a Toast displaying that the communication apparatus having failed to be paired with the information processing apparatus 101 is not matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S 205 .
- the setting app displays again the BT setting screen 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A on the display unit 108 to execute the pairing processing again, as described above.
- a BT setting screen showing that pairing processing with the communication apparatus indicated by “PrinterA” has not completed is displayed.
- the CPU 103 displays in front of the BT setting screen 400 a Toast 607 including a notification prompting a user to execute the pairing processing again.
- the display unit 108 displays a BT setting screen 606 illustrated in FIG. 6D .
- the Toast 607 displays a notification that the pairing has failed and an operating method for normally executing pairing processing (notifying an instruction to input a correct password within 30 seconds).
- the CPU 103 may include a notification of a cause of the failure of the pairing processing in the Toast 607 .
- the CPU 103 displays a Toast 601 including a message prompting a user to select on the BT setting screen a communication apparatus selected by the user through the screen displayed in S 205 .
- the BT setting screen 600 illustrated in FIG. 6A is displayed on the display unit 108 again.
- the CPU 103 after S 222 executes the processing in S 214 again.
- the CPU 103 obtains from the OS information regarding the pairing state between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 and the information processing apparatus 101 .
- the CPU 103 can determine whether the pairing between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 and the information processing apparatus 101 has completed or not.
- the method for the determination is not limited thereto.
- the CPU 103 may store in advance an event indicating “pairing completed” and an event indicating “pairing failed” received through the setting app, for example. Then, the CPU 103 may determine whether the pairing between the communication apparatus and the information processing apparatus 101 has completed or not based on the stored events.
- the CPU 103 displays a Toast or a dialog on the display unit 108 based on the result of the determination in S 223 . Because the display unit 108 currently displays a screen provided by the printing app, the CPU 103 displays a Toast or a dialog in front of the screen. If the CPU 103 determines that the pairing between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 and the information processing apparatus 101 has completed, a Toast or dialog including a message indicating that the pairing processing has completed is displayed. If the CPU 103 determines that the pairing between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S 205 and the information processing apparatus 101 has not completed, a Toast or dialog including a message indicating that the pairing processing has failed is displayed. If the pairing processing has failed, the processing from S 204 may be performed again to execute the pairing processing again.
- the CPU 103 sets to prevent the printing app from receiving a notification of an event caused by an operation performed on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app.
- the printing app can receive a notification of an event only during the pairing processing through the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app and displays a Toast based on the occurring event.
- a notification with a Toast can be performed at an any appropriate time.
- the CPU 103 ends the processing.
- the display unit 108 displays a screen provided by the printing app
- the CPU 103 may continuously execute a function that the printing app has in accordance with a user instruction.
- the CPU 103 may execute setting processing relating to connectivity between the paired communication apparatus and information processing apparatus 101 through BLE or may transmit a print job to the paired communication apparatus. With this configuration, a user can continuously use the printing app also after the pairing processing ends.
- the printing app displays a Toast including various kinds of information on the BT setting screen.
- an operation to be executed on the BT setting screen based on data input on a screen displayed by the printing app can be presented on a BT setting screen displayed by the setting app, which can improve user convenience.
- an operation to be executed on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app to use the printing app may be presented on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app, which can improve user convenience. It can further prevent a user from performing a misoperation on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app, which can further improve convenience.
- the program for displaying the BT setting screen is not limited to the setting app.
- the present invention is applicable to any configuration in which the BT setting screen is displayed by at least a program other than the printing app.
- a Toast is displayed for notifying a user of an operating method on the setting screen
- embodiments of the present invention is not limited thereto.
- a notification region called a balloon may be used to notify a user of an operating method on the setting screen.
- the present invention can be implemented by processing implemented by a program implementing one or more functions of the aforementioned embodiment, which is supplied to a system or an apparatus over a network or through a storage medium and read and executed by one or more processors in the system or the apparatus.
- the present invention may also be implemented by a circuit (such as ASIC) implementing the one or more functions.
- input processing for executing pairing processing may be performed on a screen displayed by a program other than a predetermined app through execution of the pairing processing is instructed through a screen displayed by the predetermined app, which can improve user operability.
- Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s).
- computer executable instructions e.g., one or more programs
- a storage medium which may also be referred to more fully as a
- the computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions.
- the computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.
- the storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)TM), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to a control method.
- An information processing apparatus has been known which may communicate with a communication apparatus such as a printer by using a predetermined application (hereinafter, called an “app”) such as a printing app. Such an information processing apparatus may execute pairing processing for performing authentication between the communication apparatus and the apparatus for highly secured communication. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2017-10329 discloses an information processing apparatus which performs pairing processing with a communication apparatus by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
- Pairing processing may be performed before communication by a predetermined app, as described above. Accordingly, in order to perform pairing processing before communication by a predetermined app, the information processing apparatus may first receive an instruction to execute pairing processing on a screen displayed by the predetermined app. However, a user may sometimes execute input processing for the pairing processing on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app rather than a screen displayed by a program of the predetermined app. In other words, though the instruction to execute pairing processing is received on a screen displayed by the predetermined app, the input processing for executing the pairing processing may sometimes be executed on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app. Disadvantageously with this configuration, for input processing during pairing processing for communication by a predetermined app, a user may not easily determine an operation to be performed on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app.
- Accordingly, the present invention may improve user operability in a configuration that an instruction to execute the pairing processing is given on a screen displayed by a predetermined app but an input operation for pairing processing is performed on a screen displayed by a program of an app other than the predetermined app.
- Accordingly, there is provided a control method for an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention. The information processing apparatus has a first program and a second program different from the first program, and a first wireless communication unit configured to execute communication by a first wireless communication method and a second wireless communication unit configured to execute communication by a second wireless communication method having a higher communication speed than that of the first wireless communication method. The control method includes receiving, from a user through a screen displayed on a display unit by using the first program, an execution instruction to execute authentication processing for authenticating communication by the first wireless communication unit between a communication apparatus and the information processing apparatus, in a case where the execution instruction is received, displaying on the display unit by using the second program a setting screen for receiving from a user an input for selecting a target communication apparatus for the authentication processing from a plurality of communication apparatuses, and displaying on the display unit a notification region for notifying a user of information regarding an operation to be executed on the setting screen displayed on the display unit.
- Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
-
FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates configurations of an information processing apparatus and a communication apparatus. -
FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts illustrating pairing processing to be executed by an information processing apparatus. -
FIG. 3 illustrates an example screen to be displayed on a display unit in the information processing apparatus upon activation of an app for printing. -
FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate example BT setting screens to be displayed by an app for setting. -
FIG. 5 is an example PIN code display screen to displayed on a display unit in a communication apparatus. -
FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate example BT setting screens to be displayed by the app for setting and example Toasts to be displayed by the app for printing. -
FIG. 7 illustrates an example screen illustrating operating steps to be performed by a user on a BT setting screen and a name of a communication apparatus to be selected on the BT setting screen. -
FIG. 8 illustrates processing for broadcasting advertise information and receiving connection request information. -
FIG. 9 illustrates advertise by BLE. -
FIG. 10 illustrates a structure of advertise information. - With reference to drawings, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below. It should be understood that changes, modifications and alterations made to the following embodiments as required are encompassed in the scope of the present invention based on general knowledge of the person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
- An information processing apparatus and a communication apparatus included in a communication system according to a first embodiment will be described. Though a smartphone is applied as an example of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The information processing apparatus may be any of various apparatuses such as a mobile terminal, a desktop personal computer (PC), a tablet terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a digital camera. Though a printer is applied as an example of the communication apparatus according to this embodiment, embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. The communication may be any of various devices which can perform wireless communication with the information processing apparatus. For example, any printer is applicable such as an ink-jet printer, a full-color laser beam printer, and a monochromatic printer. Embodiments of the present invention are also applicable to not only such printers but also a copy machine, a facsimile apparatus, a mobile terminal, a smartphone, a laptop PC, a tablet terminal, a PDA, a digital camera, an audio player, a television and so on. Additionally, embodiments of the present invention are also applicable to a multi-function peripheral having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a facsimile function and a printing function.
- First, configurations of an information processing apparatus according to this embodiment and a communication apparatus capable of communicating with the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to a block diagram illustrated in
FIG. 1 . This embodiment is applicable to any apparatuses which can communicate with a communication apparatus, and it is not intended to be particularly limited by the illustrated capabilities though the following configurations will be described below according to this embodiment, for example. - An
information processing apparatus 101 corresponds to the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment. Theinformation processing apparatus 101 may have aninput interface 102, aCPU 103, aROM 104, aRAM 105, anexternal storage device 106, anoutput interface 107, adisplay unit 108, acommunication unit 111, and a near-field communication unit 112. - The
input interface 102 is an interface configured to receive a data input or an operation instruction from a user by operating amouse 110 or akeyboard 109. - The
CPU 103 is a system control unit and is configured to generally control theinformation processing apparatus 101. - The
ROM 104 is configured to store fixed data of a control program, a data table, an embedded operating system (hereinafter, called an OS) program to be executed by theCPU 103, for example. According to this embodiment, control programs stored in theROM 104 are configured to implement software execution control over scheduling, task switching, interrupt processing and so on under management of the embedded OS stored in theROM 104. - The
RAM 105 may be a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) which may require backup power supply. Because theRAM 105 may hold data with power from a primary battery for data backup, not illustrated, theRAM 105 may store important data such as program control variables without volatizing them. TheRAM 105 may further has a memory area configured to store, for example, setting information for theinformation processing apparatus 101 and management data for theinformation processing apparatus 101. TheRAM 105 may be used as a main memory and a work memory for theCPU 103. - The
external storage device 106 is configured to store an application providing a print execution function and a print job generation program which generates a print job interpretable by thecommunication apparatus 151. Theexternal storage device 106 is further configured to store a program such as an information transmission/reception control program which may perform transmission/reception to/from thecommunication apparatus 151 connected thereto through thecommunication unit 111 and information to be used by the programs. - The
output interface 107 is an interface configured to control for display of data on thedisplay unit 108 and notification of a state of theinformation processing apparatus 101. - The
display unit 108 may be a light emitting diode (LED) or a liquid crystal display device (LCD), for example, and is configured to display data and notify a state of theinformation processing apparatus 101. Operating elements such as a numeral input key, a mode setting key, a determination key, a cancel key, and a power key may be provided on thedisplay unit 108 to receive an input from a user through thedisplay unit 108. - The
communication unit 111 is connected to thecommunication apparatus 151, an external apparatus to theinformation processing apparatus 101, and an apparatus at an external access point (not illustrated) present externally to thecommunication apparatus 151 and is configured to execute data communication with them. For example, thecommunication unit 111 is connectable to an access point (not illustrated) within thecommunication apparatus 151. Connection between thecommunication unit 111 and an access point within thecommunication apparatus 151 enables mutual communication between theinformation processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151. It should be noted that thecommunication unit 111 may communicate with thecommunication apparatus 151 directly by wireless communication or through an external apparatus present externally to theinformation processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151. The term “external apparatus” here refers to an external access point or a non-access point apparatus which can relay communication. A wireless communication method such as Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) (registered trademark) and a Bluetooth (registered trademark) may be used. The external access point may be an apparatus such as a wireless LAN router. According to this embodiment, theinformation processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151 may be directly connected without through an external access point in a direct connection method. Theinformation processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151 may be connected through an external access point in an infrastructure connection method. - The near-
field communication unit 112 is configured to execute data communication in near-field connection with an apparatus such as thecommunication apparatus 151 and to communicate with thecommunication unit 111 based on a different communication method. The near-field communication unit 112 is connectable with the near-field communication unit 157 within thecommunication apparatus 151, for example. A communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and WiFi Aware may be applied therefor. This embodiment assumes that the near-field communication unit 112 has a Bluetooth function which enables execution of communication based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Classic. - According to this embodiment, the
communication unit 111 is configured to be able to perform communication at a higher speed than that of the near-field communication unit 112. It is assumed here that a communicable distance of thecommunication unit 111 is longer than a communicable distance of the near-field communication unit 112. - The
communication apparatus 151 corresponds to the communication apparatus of this embodiment. Thecommunication apparatus 151 may have aROM 152, aRAM 153, aCPU 154, aprint engine 155, acommunication unit 156, and a near-field communication unit 157. - The
communication unit 156 has an access point for connecting with an apparatus such as theinformation processing apparatus 101 as an internal access point in thecommunication apparatus 151. The access point is connectable with thecommunication unit 111 in theinformation processing apparatus 101. It should be noted that thecommunication unit 156 may communicate with theinformation processing apparatus 101 directly by wireless communication or through an external access point. A communication method such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and a Bluetooth (registered trademark) may be used. Thecommunication unit 156 may include hardware functioning as an access point or may operate as an access point by software for causing thecommunication unit 156 to function as an access point. - The near-
field communication unit 157 is configured to execute near-field connection with an apparatus such as theinformation processing apparatus 101 and to be able to connect with the near-field communication unit 112 within theinformation processing apparatus 101, for example. A communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and WiFi Aware may be applied therefor. This embodiment assumes that the near-field communication unit 157 has a Bluetooth function which enables execution of communication based on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Classic. - According to this embodiment, the
communication unit 156 is configured to be able to perform communication at a higher speed than that of the near-field communication unit 157. It is assumed here that a communicable distance of thecommunication unit 156 is longer than a communicable distance of the near-field communication unit 157. - The
RAM 153 may be an SRAM which may require backup power supply. Because theRAM 153 may hold data with power from a primary battery for data backup, not illustrated, theRAM 153 may store important data such as program control variables without volatizing them. TheRAM 153 may further have a memory area configured to store, for example, setting information for thecommunication apparatus 151 and management data for thecommunication apparatus 151. TheRAM 153 may be used as a main memory and a work memory for theCPU 154 and may store information such as information in a reception buffer for temporarily storing print information received from theinformation processing apparatus 101, for example. - The
ROM 152 is configured to store fixed data of a control program, a data table, and an OS program to be executed by theCPU 154, for example. According to this embodiment, control programs stored in theROM 152 are configured to implement software execution control over scheduling, task switching, interrupt processing and so on under management of the embedded OS stored in theROM 152. - The
CPU 154 is a system control unit and is configured to generally control thecommunication apparatus 151. - The
print engine 155 is configured to perform image formation processing and output a print result. The image formation processing applies a recording material such as ink onto a recording medium such as paper based on information stored in theRAM 153 or a print job received from theinformation processing apparatus 101, for example, to form an image on the recording medium. The term “print job” here refers to a job for causing thecommunication apparatus 151 to perform the image formation processing. In this case, because the print job transmitted from theinformation processing apparatus 101, for example, has a large transmission data amount and requires high speed communication, the print job is received through thecommunication unit 156 capable of communicating at a higher speed than that of the near-field communication unit 157. - A memory device such as an external hard disk drive (HDD) and an SD card may optionally be provided in the
communication apparatus 151, and information to be stored in thecommunication apparatus 151 may be stored in the memory device. - The communication apparatus according to this embodiment has a connection mode set by connection setting processing and communicates with the information processing apparatus based on the connection configuration based on the set connection mode. In order for the communication apparatus according to this embodiment to perform communication by the infrastructure connection, the connection mode is set to an infrastructure connection mode. In order to perform communication by the direct connection, the connection mode is set to a direct connection mode.
- Having described above how processes are to be divided between the
information processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151, for example, the division is not limited to thereto. Processes may be divided therebetween in any manner. - This embodiment assumes that the near-
field communication unit 112 and the near-field communication unit 157 perform communication by BLE. According to this embodiment, the near-field communication unit 157 functions as an advertiser (or slave) which broadcasts advertise information, which will be described below, and the near-field communication unit 112 functions as a scanner (or master) which receives the advertise information. This embodiment further assumes that thecommunication unit 111 and thecommunication unit 156 perform communication over a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi). Next, with reference toFIG. 8 , processing for transmitting advertise information and receiving BLE connection request under BLE standards will be described. According to this embodiment, because the near-field communication unit 157 operates as a slave device as described above, the near-field communication unit 157 is assumed to perform the processing as described above. - The near-
field communication unit 157 divides a frequency band of 2.4 GHz into 40 channels (0 to 39 ch) for communication based on the BLE communication method. The near-field communication unit 157 uses 37th to 39th channels among them for transmission of advertise information and reception of BLE connection requests and 0th to 36th channels for data communication (such as GATT communication) after a BLE connection.FIG. 8 illustrates a vertical axis indicating power consumption by the near-field communication unit 157 and a horizontal axis indicating time period and illustrates a power consumption for transmitting advertise information by using one channel for each process.FIG. 8 further illustrates a total power consumption Tx805 in a transmission process in processing for broadcasting advertise information and a total power consumption Rx806 in a reception process in processing for enabling a receiver configured to receive a BLE connection request. Referring toFIG. 8 , atransmission power 802 indicates an instantaneous power consumption by a transmission process. Areception power 803 indicates an instantaneous power consumption by a reception process. Amicrocomputer operating power 801 indicates an instantaneous power consumption when a microcomputer within the near-field communication unit 157 operates. The microcomputer operates before and after and during Tx805 and Rx806 because the microcomputer is required to be activated in advance for executing and terminating transmission and reception processes. Transmission of advertise information by using a plurality of channels results in an increased power consumption for the increased number of channels used for the advertise information transmission. During a period when the microcomputer is not operating and the near-field communication unit 157 has a power saving mode, the instantaneous power consumption of the near-field communication unit 157 is equal to asleep power 804. In this manner, the near-field communication unit 157 may use a predetermined channel to perform a transmission process and then use the same channel to perform a reception process for a predetermined period of time so that the near-field communication unit 157 can wait for a BLE connection request transmitted from theinformation processing apparatus 101. When the near-field communication unit 157 receives a BLE connection request from theinformation processing apparatus 101, the near-field communication unit 157 establishes a BLE connection and thus perform GATT communication with theinformation processing apparatus 101. - The near-
field communication unit 157 may repeat the advertise information transmission and reception processes three times by using different channels as illustrated inFIG. 9 , terminate the operation of the microcomputer, and may then be shifted to have a power saving mode for a predetermined period of time. Hereinafter, a combination of advertise information transmission and reception processes by using a predetermined channel will be called an advertise. A time interval for transmitting advertise information by using a predetermined channel will be called an advertising cycle. The number of advertises to be repeated during a period from the first advertise to the shift to the power saving mode may arbitrarily be changed if it is equal to or lower than three. -
FIG. 10 illustrates an example structure of advertise information to be broadcasted from the near-field communication unit 157 to neighborhood of thecommunication apparatus 151. - The near-
field communication unit 157 may perform initialization processing upon start of power supply and shift to have an advertising state. The near-field communication unit 157 having the advertising state periodically broadcasts advertise information to the neighborhood based on an advertising cycle. The term “advertise information” refers to a signal including basic header information (such as identification information for identifying a destination apparatus of the advertise information) and having aheader 1001 and apayload 1002. Theinformation processing apparatus 101 receiving the advertise information can identify the presence of thecommunication apparatus 151. Theinformation processing apparatus 101 may transmit a BLE connection request to thecommunication apparatus 151 to execute BLE connection with thecommunication apparatus 151. Theheader 1001 is a region for storing the type of advertise information and information regarding the size of thepayload 1002. Thepayload 1002 may store adevice name 1003 or mounted profile information as the identification information,connection information 1004 for BLE connection with thecommunication apparatus 151, and information regarding transmission power (Tx Power) 1005 for advertise information. The advertise information may includeidentification information 1006 of a communication apparatus. Theidentification information 1006 of a communication apparatus corresponds to a MAC address of the communication apparatus, service information of the communication apparatus, an SSID of or a password for an access point within the communication apparatus. - According to this embodiment, the near-
field communication unit 157 shifts to an advertising state when the power supply to thecommunication apparatus 151 is turned on and starts transmission of advertise information. However, the time for starting transmission of advertise information by the near-field communication unit 157 is not limited thereto but may be a time when a predetermined operation is performed for enabling a BLE function, for example. - For example, the near-
field communication unit 157 may first transmit first advertise information and, when receiving a response to the first advertise information from theinformation processing apparatus 101, may transmit second advertise information containing different data from that of the first advertise information. For example, the first advertise information may include information regarding transmission power for advertise information and identification information of the near-field communication unit 157. The second advertise information may include identification information of thecommunication apparatus 151 and information regarding a function and hardware included in thecommunication apparatus 151. In this configuration, for example, an app for printing (hereinafter, a printing app) may be designed to handle the second advertise information. Therefore, the following description assumes that advertise information to be handled by the printing app is the second advertise information. - According to this embodiment, pairing processing is performed which performs an authentication process between the
information processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151 for reading and writing data by GATT (Generic Attribute Profile) communication between the apparatuses. GATT is a profile for reading and writing (transmission and reception) of information under BLE standards. In a GATT communication, theinformation processing apparatus 101 may function as a GATT client, and thecommunication apparatus 151 may function as a GATT server. A GATT-based profile enables reading and writing information from theinformation processing apparatus 101 to thecommunication apparatus 151 in the communication. It is configured that, when the pairing between theinformation processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151 is not executed, thecommunication apparatus 151 does not allow reading and writing of information by GATT communication. This can prevent communication between theinformation processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151 which are unpaired and thus prevent unintentional acquisition of information held by thecommunication apparatus 151 to the unpairedinformation processing apparatus 101. This embodiment assumes that there are GATT communication to be permitted between unpaired apparatuses and GATT communication not to be permitted between unpaired apparatuses. It may be configured to allow communication of less confidential information by the GATT communication to be permitted between unpaired apparatus for improved convenience of communication. On the other hand, it may be configured to allow communication of highly confidential information by the GATT communication not to be permitted between unpaired apparatuses for improved security of communication. - This embodiment assumes that the
information processing apparatus 101 stores a predetermined application in theROM 104 and theexternal storage device 106, for example. The predetermined application may be an application program, for example, for transmission to thecommunication apparatus 151 of a print job for printing image data or document data within theinformation processing apparatus 101. Hereinafter, an application having such a function will be called a printing app. The printing app may include other functions in addition to the print function. For example, in a case where thecommunication apparatus 151 may have a scan function, the printing app may include a function for scanning a document set on thecommunication apparatus 151, a function for defining a setting for thecommunication apparatus 151, and a function for checking the state of thecommunication apparatus 151. In other words, the printing app may have a function for transmitting a scan job or a setting job in addition to the print job to thecommunication apparatus 151. The predetermined application is not limited to the printing app but may be an application program having a function other than printing. - The
information processing apparatus 101 may sometimes communicate with thecommunication apparatus 151 by BLE, for example, in order to use a function of the printing app. More specifically, for example, in order to execute the print function, theinformation processing apparatus 101 may first exchange, by BLE communication, connection information regarding WiFi communication and then transmit a print job to thecommunication apparatus 151 by WiFi communication. Accordingly, in order to use a function of the printing app, theinformation processing apparatus 101 may execute pairing processing for BLE to be able to execute BLE communication with thecommunication apparatus 151. This embodiment assumes that the printing app also has a function for performing pairing processing between theinformation processing apparatus 101 and thecommunication apparatus 151. The pairing processing to executed through the printing app will be described below. -
FIG. 3 illustrates an example screen to be displayed on thedisplay unit 108 when the printing app is activated. Through a start-upscreen 300, a user may use a function of the communication apparatus such as printing of a desired image and defining a setting for the communication apparatus. When theinformation processing apparatus 101 detects a press of a “PRINT PHOTOGRAPH”button 301, theinformation processing apparatus 101 causes thecommunication apparatus 151 to display a screen for executing printing. When theinformation processing apparatus 101 detects a press of a “SCAN”button 302, theinformation processing apparatus 101 causes thecommunication apparatus 151 to display a screen for executing scan processing which is processing for scanning a document to generate image data. When theinformation processing apparatus 101 detects a press of aBLE PARING button 303, theinformation processing apparatus 101 starts pairing processing. - It is assumed that the
information processing apparatus 101 according to this embodiment has an application for setting (hereinafter, a setting app). The setting app is an application program for defining a setting relating to a function to be executed by the OS. The setting app may be installed during a series of processing operations for installing the OS in theinformation processing apparatus 101 or may be installed in theinformation processing apparatus 101 in advance together with the OS upon arrival of theinformation processing apparatus 101. In order to perform pairing with thecommunication apparatus 151, theinformation processing apparatus 101 according to this embodiment receives from a user an input for the pairing on a Bluetooth setting screen (hereinafter, BT setting screen) displayed by the setting app. More specifically, theinformation processing apparatus 101 receives from a user an input for pairing on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app. This is because pairing processing may not be executed on a screen displayed by a program other than the setting app, that is, the printing app because of, for example, some types of OS installed in theinformation processing apparatus 101 or some models of theinformation processing apparatus 101. Accordingly, theinformation processing apparatus 101 also uses the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app for performing pairing processing through the printing app. A configuration will be described which performs pairing processing on both of a screen displayed by the printing app and a screen displayed by a program (setting app, here) other than the printing app according to this embodiment for improved usability. -
FIGS. 2A and 2B are flowcharts illustrating pairing processing to be executed by theinformation processing apparatus 101. The flowcharts illustrated inFIGS. 2A and 2B may be implemented by a program stored in theROM 104 or theexternal storage device 106 and invoked to theRAM 105 and executed by theCPU 103, for example. According to this embodiment, the processing illustrated in the flowcharts inFIGS. 2A and 2B is assumed to be executed by the printing app. According to this embodiment, it is assumed that the printing app is configured to be able to receive a notification that an event such as “in pairing”, “pairing completed”, and “pairing failed” has occurred through a BT setting screen displayed by the setting app. Whether the printing app is to actually receive a notification of occurrence of such an event or not may be defined in notification settings, which will be described below. Details of those events will be described below. The processing illustrated in the flowcharts inFIGS. 2A and 2B is assumed to start when theBLE PARING button 303 is pressed by a user. - First in S201, the
CPU 103 determines whether a Bluetooth function of theinformation processing apparatus 101 is enabled or not. With the enabled Bluetooth function, theinformation processing apparatus 101 is ready for execution of communication by Bluetooth or BLE. As described above, the near-field communication unit 112 operates as a scanner under the BLE communication standard. Thus, when theinformation processing apparatus 101 is ready for execution of communication by BLE, theCPU 103 shifts the near-field communication unit 112 to a state ready for receiving advertise information (scan state) and searches advertise information. If theCPU 103 determines that the Bluetooth function is enabled, the processing moves to S203. If theCPU 103 determines that the Bluetooth function is not enabled (or is disabled), the processing moves to S202. - In S202, the
CPU 103 enables the disabled Bluetooth function. In this case, theCPU 103 displays on the display unit 108 a dialog for prompting a user to select whether the Bluetooth function is to be enabled or not. If theCPU 103 receives an instruction from the user through the dialog, the Bluetooth function may be enabled. - Next in S203, the
CPU 103 determines whether the near-field communication unit 112 has received advertise information after theBLE PARING button 303 is pressed. If theCPU 103 determines that advertise information has been received, the processing moves to S204. If theCPU 103 determines that the advertise information has not been received, theCPU 103 after a predetermined waiting time performs the processing S203 again for waiting for reception of the advertise information. - Next in S204, the
CPU 103 determines whether the received advertise information includes specific identification information or not. According to this embodiment, in order to perform pairing processing through the printing app, theinformation processing apparatus 101 is configured to communicate with a communication apparatus of the model or vendor supporting the printing app. Therefore, the specific identification information is identification information indicating that the communication apparatus having transmitted the received advertise information is a communication apparatus of the model supporting the printing app or a communication apparatus provided by a predetermined vendor supporting the printing app. More specifically, the specific identification information may be information indicating that the communication apparatus having transmitted the received advertise information can provide a print service (image formation function) or information regarding the name of model or vendor of the communication apparatus having transmitted the received advertise information. The identification information may be any information by which a communication apparatus supporting the printing app can be uniquely identified and may be an IP address, a MAC address, or an ID information, for example. If theCPU 103 determines that the received advertise information includes the specific identification information, the processing moves to S205. If theCPU 103 determines that the received advertise information does not include the specific identification information, theCPU 103 after a predetermined waiting time performs the processing S203 again for waiting for reception of the advertise information. In a case where the near-field communication unit 112 receives a plurality of advertise information pieces after a press of theBLE PARING button 303 is detected, theCPU 103 performs the determination in S204 with respect to each of the advertise information pieces. If theCPU 103 determines that at least one of the advertise information pieces includes the specific identification information, the processing moves to S205. - In S205, the
CPU 103 displays on thedisplay unit 108 information regarding the communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information including the specific identification information. The information regarding the communication apparatus may be included in the advertise information including the specific identification information and may be information such as a name, an IP address, or a MAC address, for example, of the communication apparatus. In a case where a plurality of advertise information pieces each including the specific identification information is received, theCPU 103 displays information regarding the communication apparatuses having transmitted the advertise information pieces. The information regarding the communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information including the specific identification information may be displayed on a screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing. In other words, the printing app displays a screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing. Because of the filtering performed in S204, the information regarding the communication apparatus which supports the printing app (or on which the printing app can execute a function) is displayed, and information regarding a communication apparatus which does not support the printing app is not displayed. - Next in S206, through the screen displayed in S205, the
CPU 103 determines whether a selection of a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing has been received from a user or not. More specifically, theCPU 103 determines whether any one of information pieces regarding communication apparatuses included in the screen displayed in S205 has been selected or not. If theCPU 103 determines that the selection has been received from a user, the processing moves to S207. If theCPU 103 determines that no selection has been received from a user, theCPU 103 performs the processing in S206 again and waits for a selection from a user. If theCPU 103 determines that no selection has been received from a user, the processing in and after S203 may be performed again with the screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing kept displayed on thedisplay unit 108. Thus, information regarding the transmission source of newly received advertise information can be added to the screen for prompting a user to select a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing. If theCPU 103 determines that a selection has been received from a user, theCPU 103 determines that an instruction to execute the pairing processing has been received from a user, and determines the communication apparatus corresponding to the selected information as the pairing target communication apparatus. It is assumed here that the communication apparatus having a name “PrinterA” has been selected by a user, for the following descriptions. - In S207, the
CPU 103 stores the information regarding the pairing target communication apparatus in a predetermined storage region in theexternal storage device 106 or theROM 104, for example. The information regarding the pairing target communication apparatus may be advertise information transmitted by the pairing target communication apparatus, for example. - Next in S208, the
CPU 103 requests the pairing target communication apparatus to start GATT communication based on the information stored in S207. Thus, information which can be communicated without pairing can undergo GATT communication between theinformation processing apparatus 101 and the pairing target communication apparatus. - Next in S209, the
CPU 103 transmits by GATT communication the identification information regarding theinformation processing apparatus 101 to the pairing target communication apparatus. In this case, theCPU 103 transmits the identification information by GATT communication permitted without performing pairing. More specifically, theCPU 103 writes the identification information in a region writable without performing pairing in a GATT profile in the pairing target communication apparatus. The identification information regarding theinformation processing apparatus 101 may be information such as a name, an IP address, or a MAC address of theinformation processing apparatus 101, for example. If theCPU 103 successfully transmits the identification information, theCPU 103 ends the GATT communication. The processing then moves to S210. Here, theCPU 103 may repeat the transmission of the identification information until the identification information is transmitted successfully. Alternatively, until the successful transmission, a dialog, for example, may be displayed on thedisplay unit 108 to receive an interrupt of processing, or a timeout may cause after a lapse of a predetermined time period to interrupt the processing. - If the pairing target communication apparatus receives the identification information transmitted from the
information processing apparatus 101 by GATT communication, the pairing target communication apparatus may store it in a storage region in the pairing target communication apparatus. The pairing target communication apparatus may receive a pairing processing request only while the identification information is being stored in the storage region. The pairing target communication apparatus may receive a pairing processing request only from an information processing apparatus corresponding to the identification information stored in the storage region. Thus, the pairing target communication apparatus may be controlled to receive a pairing processing request only when the pairing processing is executed through the printing app. The pairing target communication apparatus may determine whether the pairing processing has completed or not and whether a predetermined time period has passed from the storing of the identification information or not. If one of the determinations results in YES, the identification information is deleted from the storage region. - It is to be understood that the processing to be executed by the pairing target communication apparatus for receiving a pairing processing request is not limited to the configuration as described above. For example, the pairing target communication apparatus may be configured to receive identification information from the
information processing apparatus 101 after receiving a pairing processing request from theinformation processing apparatus 101. In this case, after the pairing target communication apparatus receives a pairing processing request from theinformation processing apparatus 101, the pairing target communication apparatus determines whether the identification information received from theinformation processing apparatus 101 is matched with the information regarding theinformation processing apparatus 101 included in the pairing processing request or not. If they are matched, the pairing target communication apparatus accepts the pairing processing request and starts the pairing processing. If not, the pairing target communication apparatus does not accept the pairing processing request and does not start the pairing processing. - Next in S210, the
CPU 103 displays on the display unit 108 a screen displaying operation steps to be performed by a user in the pairing processing. According to this embodiment, as described above, operations for the pairing processing such as an input of information for pairing is performed on a BT setting screen of the setting app running on theinformation processing apparatus 101. Accordingly, in S208, theCPU 103 may display on thedisplay unit 108 dialogs illustrating operation steps to be performed by a user on the BT setting screen and a communication apparatus to be selected on the BT setting screen. TheCPU 103 further displays a button for receiving an instruction to move to the next step from a user. More specifically, for example, theCPU 103 in S210 may display a screen as illustrated inFIG. 7 . In S210, if theCPU 103 detects that an instruction to move to the next step is received from a user, theCPU 103 closes the dialog displayed on thedisplay unit 108. The processing then moves to S211. - Next in S211, the
CPU 103 enables a notification setting for an event to the printing app. More specifically, theCPU 103 sets to enable the printing app to receive a notification of an event occurring in response to an operation performed on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app. Thus, the printing app can recognize occurrence of an event such as “in pairing”, “pairing completed”, or “pairing failed” based on an operation performed on the BT setting screen and can execute predefined processing in response to occurrence of the event. - Next in S212, the
CPU 103 displays a Toast showing a message prompting a user to select, on the BT setting screen displayed on thedisplay unit 108 in S211, the communication apparatus selected by the user through the screen displayed in S205. In other words, theCPU 103 here displays a Toast showing a message prompting a user to select the communication apparatus having the name “PrinterA” on the BT setting screen. The Toast displayed here is kept being displayed in front of the BT setting screen even when the BT setting screen is displayed, which will be described below. In other words, because a user can select a communication apparatus on the BT setting screen by checking the message displayed in a Toast, the user can quickly and accurately grasp which communication apparatus is to be selected on the BT setting screen. - The term “Toast” refers to a notification region to be pop-up displayed in the foreground on the
display unit 108 in theinformation processing apparatus 101. A Toast is automatically hidden after a lapse of a predetermined period of time. A Toast may be displayed on a partial region of a display unit though it is not limited in size to prevent it from completely covering a screen displayed by the printing app and the BT setting screen. Even while a Toast is being displayed, a region excluding the Toast may be operated to execute an operation on the screen displayed behind the Toast, minimizing interference with user operations. In order to display a Toast by using the communication apparatus selected by the user through the screen displayed in S205, theCPU 103 transmits a request to display a Toast to the OS along with data of a message to be included in the Toast because the OS has a function for displaying a Toast. Thus, theCPU 103 can display the Toast by using the printing app. TheCPU 103 can display a Toast even when a program requesting to display the Toast is moved to the background. A state that a program is moved to the background corresponds to a state that a screen displayed by a program other than the program is being displayed on thedisplay unit 108 while the program is kept running. On the other hand, a state that a program is moved to the foreground corresponds to a state that a screen displayed by the program is being displayed on thedisplay unit 108 while the program is kept running. - In order to keep displaying a Toast for a long period of time, the
CPU 103 may display again the Toast automatically hidden after a lapse of a predetermined period. In this case, theCPU 103 may repeat the re-display a predetermined number of times or until the Toast is hidden by a user operation. - Next in S213, the
CPU 103 changes the screen to be displayed on thedisplay unit 108 from a screen to be displayed by the printing app to a BT setting screen to be displayed by the setting app. Then, theCPU 103 moves the printing app to the background. More specifically, theCPU 103 displays the screen to be displayed by the setting app on thedisplay unit 108 in response to an instruction from the printing app by keeping the printing app active. The configuration has been described up to this point which changes the screen to be displayed by thedisplay unit 108 from the screen as illustrated inFIG. 7 to the BT setting screen. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the configuration, but, for example, it may be configured that the screen as illustrated inFIG. 3 is changed from the screen as illustrated inFIG. 3 directly to the BT setting screen after receiving an instruction to execute the pairing processing. -
FIGS. 4A to 4C are examples of the BT setting screen to be displayed by the setting app. On the BT setting screen, a setting for a Bluetooth function of theinformation processing apparatus 101 can be defined. More specifically, the BT setting screen is a screen for receiving from a user a selection of a communication apparatus to be paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101, for example. - First, the
CPU 103 displays aBT setting screen 400 illustrated inFIG. 4A on thedisplay unit 108. The BT setting screen displays a list of pairing-completeddevices 410, a list of devices available for pairing 420, and aSCAN button 430. - The list of pairing-completed
devices 410 is a region displaying information regarding a communication apparatus on which pairing processing with theinformation processing apparatus 101 has already been executed (or paired with the information processing apparatus 101). - The list of devices available for pairing 420 is a region displaying information regarding a communication apparatus with which the
information processing apparatus 101 can execute the pairing processing. It is noted here that the expression “a communication apparatus with which theinformation processing apparatus 101” refers to a communication apparatus having transmitted advertise information received by theinformation processing apparatus 101. Filtering is not particularly performed on communication apparatuses displayed in the list of devices available forpairing 420. The list of devices available for pairing 420 may also display a communication apparatus not supporting the printing app (such as a non-printer apparatus and a printer not supporting the printing app instructing the pairing processing). A user may select one of communication apparatuses displayed in the list of devices available for pairing 420 so that the pairing processing with the selected communication apparatus can be started. - The
SCAN button 430 is a button for causing theinformation processing apparatus 101 to starting searching (scanning) advertise information transmitted from a communication apparatus in a BLE-supported apparatus around theinformation processing apparatus 101 in order to update the data of the list of devices available forpairing 420. - A
return button 440 is a button usable for displaying again the screen displayed on thedisplay unit 108 immediately before the currently displayed screen. As described above, theBT setting screen 400 including thereturn button 440 is displayed by the setting app. In a case where the screen displayed immediately before theBT setting screen 400 is displayed by a program excluding the setting app, the screen displayed by the program excluding the setting app is displayed again in response to a press of thereturn button 440. According to this embodiment, because the screen displayed immediately before theBT setting screen 400 is a screen displayed by the printing app, the screen displayed by the printing app is displayed again in response to a press of thereturn button 440. - A
home button 441 is a button usable for displaying a home screen to be displayed by the OS. The term “home screen” refers to a screen displaying icons for activating application programs (such as the printing app) included in theinformation processing apparatus 101, for example. - A
task list button 442 is a button usable for displaying a screen for selecting a program to run in the foreground. Accordingly, when the printing app is selected on a screen displayed in response to a press of thetask list button 442, a screen presented by the printing app is displayed again. - The
CPU 103 in response to a press of theSCAN button 430 shifts theinformation processing apparatus 101 to a scanning state that is a state ready for receiving advertise information transmitted from a communication apparatus around theinformation processing apparatus 101. Next, if theCPU 103 receives advertise information, theCPU 103 identifies a name (Complete Local Name) of the communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information included in the received advertise information. TheCPU 103 then adds the identified name to the list of devices available for pairing 420, displays it, and updates the display data of the list of devices available forpairing 420. - It is assumed here that names of communication apparatuses displayed in the list of pairing-completed
devices 410 and the list of devices available for pairing 420 are information included in the received advertise information. The advertise information may further include, in addition to names of communication apparatuses, identification information (Bluetooth device address: BD_ADDR) for identifying an individual near-field communication unit included in a communication apparatus having transmitted the advertise information. Therefore, the identification information may be displayed in the list of pairing-completeddevices 410 and the list of devices available forpairing 420. TheCPU 103 may store advertise information received from a communication apparatus displayed in the list of pairing-completeddevices 410 or the list of devices available for pairing 420 in a storage region (such as theRAM 105 or the external storage device 106) in theinformation processing apparatus 101. - When a user selects one of communication apparatuses displayed in the list of devices available for pairing 420, pairing processing with the selected communication apparatus is started, as described above. However, again, the BT setting screen is a screen to be displayed by the setting app, and filtering for displaying a communication apparatus suitable for the printing app is not performed for displaying a candidate for the pairing target communication apparatus. As a result, the list of devices available for pairing 420 may display information regarding communication apparatuses excluding the communication apparatus selected by a user through the screen displayed in S205 or communication apparatuses not supporting the printing app because they do not have a print function, for example. This means that, disadvantageously, it is difficult for a user to determine which communication apparatus is to be selected as a target communication apparatus of the pairing processing through the printing app.
- According to this embodiment, in a case where the
display unit 108 displays the BT setting screen, theCPU 103 may display a Toast showing steps of user operations in front of the BT setting screen by the printing app. More specifically, for example, theCPU 103 may display aBT setting screen 600 illustrated inFIG. 6A displaying aToast 601 in the foreground of theBT setting screen 400 illustrated inFIG. 4A . TheToast 601 displays a message prompting a user to select “PrinterA” that is the communication apparatus selected by the user on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205. This configuration can prevent misoperations and can improve user's convenience. It may be configured that the Toast displayed here may include information (name) of a communication apparatus supporting the printing app instead of the communication apparatus selected by a user on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205. - According to this embodiment, the Toast may first be displayed in S212, and the BT setting screen is then displayed in S213. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the configuration. In other words, after the BT setting screen is displayed, the Toast may be displayed.
- Next in S214, the
CPU 103 determines whether the printing app on the background has been moved to the foreground or not. More specifically, theCPU 103 determines whether the screen displayed on thedisplay unit 108 has been changed from the BT setting screen to a screen displayed by the printing app or not. Notably, for example, in a case where a screen displayed by the printing app is selected on the selection screen displayed in response to a press of thereturn button 440 or a press of thetask list button 442, the printing app is moved to the foreground. If theCPU 103 determines that the printing app has been moved to the foreground, the processing moves to S223. If theCPU 103 determines that the printing app has not been moved to the foreground, the processing moves to S215. - Next in S215, the
CPU 103 determines whether an event has been notified to the printing app through the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app or not. If theCPU 103 determines that the event has been notified, the following processing is performed based on the type of the notified event. More specifically, theCPU 103 determines that the notified event is “in pairing”, the processing moves to S216. If theCPU 103 determines that the notified event is “pairing completed”, the processing moves to S218. If theCPU 103 determines that the notified event is “pairing failed”, the processing moves to S220. On the other hand, if theCPU 103 determines that no event has been notified, the processing in S214 is executed again. - Next, details of the events will be described. The event indicating “in pairing” is an event that occurs when execution of the pairing processing is instructed through the
BT setting screen 600. More specifically, the event indicating “in pairing” occurs when a user selects one of communication apparatuses displayed in the list of devices available forpairing 420. When execution of the pairing processing is instructed, the setting app reads out advertise information received from the communication apparatus selected by the user from a storage region and determines information such as identification information for the pairing processing from the read advertise information. The setting app then transmits a pairing request based on the determined information and the BLE communication standards to the communication apparatus selected by the user. The communication apparatus having received the pairing request displays a PINcode display screen 500 as illustrated inFIG. 5 on a display unit (not illustrated) that the communication apparatus has. The PINcode display screen 500 displays aPIN code 501 that is authentication information to be used for pairing processing and a Cancelbutton 502 to be sued for cancelling pairing processing. - When the setting app transmits a pairing request by causing an event indicating “in pairing”, the
display unit 108 displays a PINcode input screen 450 illustrated inFIG. 4B . The PINcode input screen 450 is a screen displaying a PINcode input dialog 454 in front of theBT setting screen 400 illustrated inFIG. 4A . The PINcode input dialog 454 displays a PINcode input region 451, anOK button 452, and a Cancelbutton 453. The PINcode input region 451 is a region for receiving a PIN code input by a user. TheOK button 452 is a button for transmitting the input PIN code to the communication apparatus selected by the user. The Cancelbutton 453 is a button for cancelling pairing processing. - In some OS specifications, a fixed period may be defined in which the
PIN code 501 can be input to the PIN code input region 451 (or in which the input can be successfully performed), for example. The period in which thePIN code 501 can be input to the PINcode input region 451 may be equal to 30 seconds, for example. In this case, if input of thePIN code 501 and press of theOK button 452 are not performed within 30 seconds from the time when the PINcode input screen 450 is displayed, thePIN code 501 is not transmitted to the communication apparatus selected by the user. This means that the pairing processing fails. - If the
OK button 452 is pressed after thePIN code 501 is input to the PINcode input region 451 within the period, the setting app transmits information including theinput PIN code 501 to the communication apparatus selected by the user. The communication apparatus selected by the user determines whether thePIN code 501 included in the received information is matched with the PIN code 501 (a PIN code corresponding to the communication apparatus) displayed on the PINcode display screen 500 or not. If the communication apparatus selected by the user determines that they are matched, the communication apparatus permits theinformation processing apparatus 101 to be paired. More specifically, the communication apparatus selected by the user transmits a link key generated by a predetermined method based on thePIN code 501 to theinformation processing apparatus 101 by using Security Manager Protocol (SMP) in the BLE standards. Then, the link key is stored in a storage region (such as the ROM 104) in theinformation processing apparatus 101 and a storage region (such as the ROM 152) in the communication apparatus selected by the user. Thus, the pairing completes, and execution of BLE communication is permitted between theinformation processing apparatus 101 and the communication apparatus. If the pairing processing completes (successfully), an event indicating “pairing completed” occurs. - When the pairing processing completes, the setting app displays the
BT setting screen 460 illustrated inFIG. 4C which does not display the PINcode input dialog 454. Upon occurrence of the event indicating “pairing completed”, the communication apparatus represented by “PrinterA” and theinformation processing apparatus 101 are completely paired. Therefore, the setting app adds “PrinterA” to the list of pairing-completeddevices 410 and deletes “PrinterA” from the list of devices available forpairing 420. - On the other hand, if it is determined that the
PIN code 501 included in the received information is not matched with thePIN code 501 displayed on the PINcode display screen 500, the pairing fails. Therefore, the communication apparatus selected by the user does not transmit the link key to theinformation processing apparatus 101. In this case, the communication apparatus selected by the user transmits information indicating that the pairing has failed to theinformation processing apparatus 101. When the pairing processing fails, the pairing processing may be executed again. Then, the setting app displays theBT setting screen 400 illustrated inFIG. 4A on thedisplay unit 108 again. Pairing may fail without limiting to such a case where the PIN codes are not matched. For example, pairing fails if the Cancelbutton 453 is pressed on the PINcode input screen 450 inFIG. 4B or the Cancelbutton 502 is pressed on the PIN code display screen inFIG. 5 . The pairing may fail if no input is performed for a long period of time on the PINcode input region 451, for example. In this manner, if the pairing processing fails, the event indicating “pairing failed” occurs. - Based on these configurations, the processing will be described with reference to
FIGS. 2A and 2B . - In S216, the
CPU 103 determines whether the communication apparatus selected on theBT setting screen 600 displayed by the setting app is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205 or not. The notification of the event indicating “in pairing” includes identification information of the communication apparatus selected on theBT setting screen 600 displayed by the setting app. Therefore, more specifically, theCPU 103 may execute the determination processing by comparing the identification information included in the notification of the event indicating “in pairing” and the information stored in S207. If theCPU 103 determines that they are matched, the processing moves to S217. If not, the processing returns to S214. If theCPU 103 determines that they are not matched, theCPU 103 may display a Toast displaying that the communication apparatus selected on theBT setting screen 600 is not matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S205. Alternatively, theCPU 103 may display a Toast for prompting a user to abort the pairing processing with the communication apparatus selected on theBT setting screen 600, for example. TheCPU 103 may display again the Toast indicating the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S205, for example. - When the event indicating “in pairing” occurs, the setting app displays the PIN
code input screen 450 illustrated inFIG. 4B on thedisplay unit 108, as described above. In some OS specifications, as described above, a fixed period may be defined in which thePIN code 501 can be input to the PIN code input region 451 (or in which the input can be successfully performed), for example. Accordingly, theCPU 103 in S217 performs display control for displaying aToast 603 including information regarding a period when thePIN code 501 can be successfully input in front of the PINcode input screen 450. As a result, thedisplay unit 108 displays aBT setting screen 602 illustrated inFIG. 6B . More specifically, theToast 603 may display a message for prompting to input thePIN code 501 within 30 seconds from display of the PINcode input screen 450 and the number of digits of thePIN code 501 to be input. Thus, a user may execute the corresponding operations based on things to be noted for inputting thePIN code 501, which can improve the usability in inputting thePIN code 501. TheCPU 103 executes the processing in S214 again after S217. - In S218, the
CPU 103 determines whether the communication apparatus having paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101 is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205 or not. The notification of the event indicating “pairing completed” include identification information of the communication apparatus having paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101. Therefore, more specifically, theCPU 103 may execute the determination processing by comparing the identification information included in the notification of the event indicating “in pairing” and the information stored in S207. If theCPU 103 determines that they are matched, the processing moves to S219. If not, the processing returns to S214. If theCPU 103 determines that they are not matched, theCPU 103 may display a Toast displaying that the communication apparatus having paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101 is not matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S205. - When the event indicating “pairing completed” occurs, the setting app displays the
BT setting screen 460 illustrated inFIG. 4C on thedisplay unit 108. If the pairing processing normally (or successfully) completes (that is, if the communication apparatus having paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101 is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S205), the screen to be displayed by the printing app may be displayed again. In other words, thereturn button 440 may be pressed to move the printing app to the foreground. Accordingly, in S219, theCPU 103 displays in front of the BT setting screen 460 aToast 605 including a notification for moving the printing app to the foreground. As a result, thedisplay unit 108 displays theBT setting screen 604 illustrated inFIG. 6C . More specifically, theToast 605 displays an operating method (for prompting to press the return button 440) for moving the printing app to the foreground. Thus, a user can smoothly execute the operation for moving the printing app to the foreground. TheCPU 103 executes the processing in S214 again after S219. Here, theCPU 103 may display a Toast presenting information indicating that the pairing processing has normally (or successfully) completed. - In S220, the
CPU 103 determines whether the communication apparatus which has failed to be paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101 is matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205 or not. A notification of the event indicating “pairing failed” includes identification information of the communication apparatus failed to be paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101. Therefore, more specifically, theCPU 103 performs the determination processing by comparing identification information included in the notification of the event indicating “pairing failed” and the information stored in S207. If theCPU 103 determines that they are matched, the processing moves to S221. If not, the processing returns to S214. If theCPU 103 determines that they are not matched, theCPU 103 may display a Toast displaying that the communication apparatus having failed to be paired with theinformation processing apparatus 101 is not matched with the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed in S205. - If the event indicating “pairing failed” occurs, the setting app displays again the
BT setting screen 400 illustrated inFIG. 4A on thedisplay unit 108 to execute the pairing processing again, as described above. In other words, a BT setting screen showing that pairing processing with the communication apparatus indicated by “PrinterA” has not completed is displayed. Accordingly, in S221, theCPU 103 displays in front of the BT setting screen 400 aToast 607 including a notification prompting a user to execute the pairing processing again. As a result, thedisplay unit 108 displays aBT setting screen 606 illustrated inFIG. 6D . More specifically, theToast 607 displays a notification that the pairing has failed and an operating method for normally executing pairing processing (notifying an instruction to input a correct password within 30 seconds). Thus, a user can smoothly execute the pairing processing again even though the pairing processing has failed. TheCPU 103 may include a notification of a cause of the failure of the pairing processing in theToast 607. - Next in S222, the
CPU 103 displays aToast 601 including a message prompting a user to select on the BT setting screen a communication apparatus selected by the user through the screen displayed in S205. As a result, theBT setting screen 600 illustrated inFIG. 6A is displayed on thedisplay unit 108 again. Thus, a user can be notified again of which communication apparatus is to be selected. TheCPU 103 after S222 executes the processing in S214 again. - In S223, the
CPU 103 obtains from the OS information regarding the pairing state between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205 and theinformation processing apparatus 101. Thus, theCPU 103 can determine whether the pairing between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205 and theinformation processing apparatus 101 has completed or not. The method for the determination is not limited thereto. For example, theCPU 103 may store in advance an event indicating “pairing completed” and an event indicating “pairing failed” received through the setting app, for example. Then, theCPU 103 may determine whether the pairing between the communication apparatus and theinformation processing apparatus 101 has completed or not based on the stored events. - Next in S224, the
CPU 103 displays a Toast or a dialog on thedisplay unit 108 based on the result of the determination in S223. Because thedisplay unit 108 currently displays a screen provided by the printing app, theCPU 103 displays a Toast or a dialog in front of the screen. If theCPU 103 determines that the pairing between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205 and theinformation processing apparatus 101 has completed, a Toast or dialog including a message indicating that the pairing processing has completed is displayed. If theCPU 103 determines that the pairing between the communication apparatus selected on the screen displayed by the printing app in S205 and theinformation processing apparatus 101 has not completed, a Toast or dialog including a message indicating that the pairing processing has failed is displayed. If the pairing processing has failed, the processing from S204 may be performed again to execute the pairing processing again. - Next in S225, the
CPU 103 sets to prevent the printing app from receiving a notification of an event caused by an operation performed on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app. Thus, the printing app can receive a notification of an event only during the pairing processing through the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app and displays a Toast based on the occurring event. Thus, a notification with a Toast can be performed at an any appropriate time. - After that, the
CPU 103 ends the processing. Here, because thedisplay unit 108 displays a screen provided by the printing app, theCPU 103 may continuously execute a function that the printing app has in accordance with a user instruction. For example, theCPU 103 may execute setting processing relating to connectivity between the paired communication apparatus andinformation processing apparatus 101 through BLE or may transmit a print job to the paired communication apparatus. With this configuration, a user can continuously use the printing app also after the pairing processing ends. - According to this embodiment, in a case where pairing processing is to be performed by using a BT setting screen displayed by the setting app to implement BLE communication by the printing app, the printing app displays a Toast including various kinds of information on the BT setting screen. With this configuration, an operation to be executed on the BT setting screen based on data input on a screen displayed by the printing app can be presented on a BT setting screen displayed by the setting app, which can improve user convenience. For example, an operation to be executed on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app to use the printing app may be presented on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app, which can improve user convenience. It can further prevent a user from performing a misoperation on the BT setting screen displayed by the setting app, which can further improve convenience.
- Having described that, according to the aforementioned embodiment, the BT setting screen is displayed by the setting app, the program for displaying the BT setting screen is not limited to the setting app. The present invention is applicable to any configuration in which the BT setting screen is displayed by at least a program other than the printing app.
- Having described that, according to the aforementioned embodiment, a Toast is displayed for notifying a user of an operating method on the setting screen, embodiments of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a notification region called a balloon may be used to notify a user of an operating method on the setting screen.
- The present invention can be implemented by processing implemented by a program implementing one or more functions of the aforementioned embodiment, which is supplied to a system or an apparatus over a network or through a storage medium and read and executed by one or more processors in the system or the apparatus. The present invention may also be implemented by a circuit (such as ASIC) implementing the one or more functions.
- According to the present invention, input processing for executing pairing processing may be performed on a screen displayed by a program other than a predetermined app through execution of the pairing processing is instructed through a screen displayed by the predetermined app, which can improve user operability.
- Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.
- While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
- This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-016206, filed Jan. 31, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Claims (20)
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EP3355560A1 (en) | 2018-08-01 |
CN108377313B (en) | 2020-03-24 |
US10873660B2 (en) | 2020-12-22 |
KR102274937B1 (en) | 2021-07-09 |
KR20180089312A (en) | 2018-08-08 |
JP2018124778A (en) | 2018-08-09 |
JP6639430B2 (en) | 2020-02-05 |
CN108377313A (en) | 2018-08-07 |
EP3355560B1 (en) | 2020-07-08 |
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